Thanks to a fellow CalGunner, my WWII collection is nearly complete. Here are two Ruger 10/22s, modified to resemble a M1 Garand and a M1 Carbine:

Obviously, the authenticity just isn't there:

But as training rifles for the young and new shooters (and for the homage factor alone), they'll do.

P.S. Next step...M1 Thompson?

__________________"The nation that will insist upon drawing a broad line of demarcation between the fighting man and the thinking man is liable to find its fighting done by fools and its thinking by cowards." Lt Gen Sir William Butler, GCB

Update:
- I swapped out the rear sight on the M1 Garand clone from a Williams target sight to an actual M1 Garand rear sight (I had to use Sarco's M1 Garand-style rear sight base for the Ruger 10/22).
- I swapped out the front sight on the M1 Carbine clone by calling Ruger customer service and asking them to send me the front sight that they sell for their clone. Ruger charged me $10 (5 for the sight, 5 for shipping). I then got an actual M1 Carbine rear sight, drilled out space for a screw, and then screwed it into the top of the receiver (it's not pretty, but it's functional). The Tech Sights -- while great -- were too "high-profile" for my taste.

So, here's what I started with:

And here's what I ended up with:

I think it looks a lot more like the original pair (not my photo; pulled from a Google Image search):

__________________"The nation that will insist upon drawing a broad line of demarcation between the fighting man and the thinking man is liable to find its fighting done by fools and its thinking by cowards." Lt Gen Sir William Butler, GCB

I loved my Carbine clone...light and handy like the original. I had Tech Sights and introduced quite a few people to shooting with that rifle.

I liked the kit so much I ordered the Thompson kit and picked up another 10/22. Unfortunately it arrived with a couple screws missing, then when they did arrive I found the quality of the kit to be lacking. I played with it a bit for a couple of weeks then sold the kit off with full disclosure of my thoughts for $100 and gave the stock 10/22 to my father.

Pros: it's a Ruger 10/22; comes straight from the factory like this
Cons: not as authentic as the Chiappa; that rear sight + rail....

Hope this helps others with their buying/build decisions.

__________________"The nation that will insist upon drawing a broad line of demarcation between the fighting man and the thinking man is liable to find its fighting done by fools and its thinking by cowards." Lt Gen Sir William Butler, GCB